


Tell Me You Love Me Regardless

by stellarparallax



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Established Relationship, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 16:23:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12821379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarparallax/pseuds/stellarparallax
Summary: Shiro was just told that he qualified for the Kerberos mission. Unfortunately, his family wasn't too thrilled about it.





	Tell Me You Love Me Regardless

**Author's Note:**

> This is my contribution for Black Paladin Week/Shiro Week 2017 for the theme: Duty/Choice! I hope you like it~

As soon as Keith opened the door to his dorm room, he was taken aback by the gloom that filled the air inside it. The lights were off, the ceiling fan was whirring ominously over him, and almost instantly, he had a nagging suspicion of what the cause of the strange atmosphere was

“Shiro?” he ventured, taking another step into his room. 

“Leave me alone, Keith.”

“May I remind you that this is my room too?”

“Fine, you may enter.”

There were very few instances where Shiro got visibly upset, and every one of those always related to Keith. This time, he was sure that it had nothing to do with him seeing that he had been studying at the library for most of the day and couldn’t for the life of him remember doing anything particularly offensive before leaving their room earlier that morning. It had to be something to do with his family.

“Shiro?”

“I got selected for the Kerberos mission.”

Keith was completely dumbfounded. Shiro had been a huge ball of nerves before every single selection test for the Kerberos mission. It had always been his dream to be on a space exploration mission, yet somehow his success in securing a spot on the team wasn’t being celebrated. He cocked his head to the side, eyebrows knitted.

“That’s… That’s good, isn’t it?” 

“I mean, it’s good for  _ me _ .”

“Who isn’t it good for?”

“My parents want to appoint me as head of the company back in Japan.”

Keith opened his mouth to say something, but he remained silent to let Shiro continue at his own pace. 

Shiro let out a long laboured sigh, “I called to tell them the news and they told me to march my ass back to Iverson and tell him that I reject the offer. They said that they’ve indulged my pipe dream long enough. If I don’t listen to them, they said that they won’t be sending me off on the big day.”

“But it’s not a pipe dream. You’re actually so close to achieving it!”

“I know.”

“Shiro…”

Shiro looked right at him for the first time since he entered the room and he immediately realised why that was. His face was red, his eyes were swollen and his cheeks were wet. It was the first time that he had seen Shiro cry.

_ “Once you start going on missions, this business is never going to be enough for you. Don’t feed the desire, Takashi. Come back and take the position that you were always meant to have.” _

“... Meant to… They… I don’t want…”

“Shiro?”

“I don’t want to go off to Kerberos without saying goodbye to them, Keith. What if it’s the last time I ever see them? I don’t want their last memory of me to be an argument over the phone.”

Keith walked around Shiro’s bed to close the distance between them. He kneeled down next to him and took his hands, kissing his palms gently.

“I know, baby. I’m here.”

“What do you think I should do?”

Keith couldn’t answer. At least, not right away.

 

* * *

 

_ The term had ended a week before, but Keith didn’t have a home to go home to. Shiro couldn’t stomach the thought of leaving Keith in the Garrison dormitory to spend New Year’s alone, so he lied to his parents and said that he had work that had to be submitted soon. It hadn’t been a total lie, as he had a report to write. The only thing was that he had already completed it before the term ended, but they didn’t need to know that.  _

_ The Garrison had been quiet after everyone else had gone home for the holidays, so they had a lot of freedom to spend time together undisturbed. Save for a few security guards, the entire compound was theirs to roam, which is why they found themselves lying on a blanket in the field, bodies intertwined.  _

_ “What’s on your mind?” _

_ Keith’s cheek was pressed against Shiro’s and he was planting butterfly kisses on the corner of Shiro’s cheekbone. Shiro pulled Keith closer to him, his arms wrapping tighter around the other’s slender body.  _

_ “I was… I was thinking about how nice it would be to go somewhere quiet, where it doesn’t matter what my dreams or my parent’s dreams are. I want to go someplace that I can be sure that my thoughts are my own.” _

_ Keith chuckled, “What about me?” _

_ “I’d never make plans that didn’t include you, baby.” _

_ “Correct answer,” Keith said, turning his face to kiss the corner of Shiro’s mouth. “So, you want to go to space?” _

_ “If that’s the only place like that, then yes. Will you come with me?” _

_ “You know I will, but I get to fly the spacecraft.” _

_ “Why do you get to fly?” _

_ “Because that’s my dream.” _

 

* * *

 

“Tell me I made the right decision,” Shiro’s brushed back Keith’s unruly fringe.

“I’ll support whatever decision you make.”

“I know that, baby, I just need some reassurance.”

Keith stiffened up at that.

“What’s wrong?”

“Shiro, you know I love and support you. I’m just not sure that I can say that I think cutting off ties with your family is a good idea. I never had a real family and I don’t want you to have to live with that pain.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to be happy.”

“Then you’re all the family I need,” Shiro whispered right before kissing his forehead, “I know you don’t like saying goodbye, but promise me you’ll see me off at the launch.”

“Kerberos is really far,” Keith’s voice was small, brimming with uncertainty. “I don’t know if I-”

“Maybe if I gave  _ you  _ some reassurance…” Shiro got up from his bed that they had been sharing and walked to his wardrobe.

Keith watched silently as Shiro pulled the door open, reached under layers of folded clothes, and pulled out a small, red box.

“Shiro...” Keith breathed.

Shiro’s gait got more rigid with every step he got closer to Keith, and Keith could see that he was trembling all over as he climbed back onto the bed beside him. Shiro’s fingers lightly reached to the opening of the box and pried it open. 

“Marry me the second I get back from the mission, Keith. Please. You’re the only family I’m ever going to need.”

“Okay,” Keith said as he crushed Shiro in a hug.

 

* * *

 

The entire academy was present to send off the team for the Kerberos mission. If it hadn’t been for Shiro’s height towering over all the younger cadets, Keith never would have spotted him. He pushed through the excited crowd and almost crashed into Shiro when he got to him.

Shiro bent down to kiss Keith on the cheek, “Hey, hey, no tears okay?”

“I’ll miss you. I can’t wait for you to come back.”

“This is just something that I have to do. You know that I ultimately chose you, right?”

“I know, Takashi.”

“I’ll miss waking up to this every day,” he said, burying his face in Keith’s hair. 

“No regrets about your parents?”

“None, whatsoever.”

From a distance, Shiro saw Sam and Matt Holt waving him over. That was his cue to leave.

“Duty calls,” he whispered, as he pressed another kiss onto Keith’s cheek.

“Goodbye, my love.”

“Goodbye,” he kissed Keith again.

“Alright, you love me, I get it. How many times are you going to kiss me? This is getting embarrassing.”

“As many times as it takes,” he laughed, going in for another kiss. 

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to @burnthoneyy who beta-ed and helped me out a lot. You really don't want to see how rough it was before she got through it.
> 
> As usual, all comments and kudos would be welcomed! And you're always allowed to scream at me on tumblr @stellar-parallax.
> 
> Have a good day~!


End file.
